And yes, no incantatrix for you. Or anyone. That class makes puppies cry. Mostly because they are the former Big Bads who have been Baleful Polymorphed into said puppies. By you. Because you're an incantatrix.
Quote from Yukora »
This is Deraxas we're talking about.
Remember, the girl that just killed an aspect of herself before literally consuming her?
Yeah, I don't see her handling a pissing match in any way other than a duel.
Quote from RedDwarfian »
Yes mistress...
Quote from About epic-level D&D »
There are only so many epic, psuedonatural barbarian/blackguard half-dragon akutenshai vampire balor paragons they can throw at you, right?
Quote from Concerning breeding habits of humans in fantasy games »
I suppose it's true. Though the logistics implied in a human/Great Wyrm Prismatic Dragon pairing makes me shudder.
...Something tells me that even should all arcane casters in the world unite, that the Grease spell would NOT be sufficient.
g1
I win the coin flip and figure I have it won when I see Chalice and Ancient Tomb in the opening hand. I was right.
g2
I Mulligan. He gets Lackey, and I don't have an answer in time. Lackey begets Warchief, Warchief begets double Piledriver. We all know the drill.
g3
I have nothing impressive in my opening hand, but I do have a lot of fast mana and a Trinket Mage. He get Lackey on turn 1 again, but I have Psychic Purge this time. Grin. Oh, and Jitte on Trinket Mage for a turn 3 attack=gg.
1-0
-----------------------
rd 2 v. Alan Kroepp with Tron!?
g1
Well, I got a Sea Drake followed by a Cloud of Fairies and an equipped Sword on turn 2, and before he was at 2 mana the game was essentially over.
g2
I had to mulligan twice, and still won. I guess he didn't care for the Chalice at two. How did he win round one? I don't know.
2-0
----------------------------
rd3 v. Ally Southerd with something.
g1
I stared at her. I cleaned up some drool. I lost to a pile of Slivers.
g2
I composed myself long enough to win with two Efreet and a life-gaining Jitte, but it was close.
g3
I mulliganed, but had a turn one Chalice. She forced. I forced. It was fun. Eventually I pulled it out thanks in large part to huge card advantage pulling three Trinket Mages. And I am lucky that I didn't have to think much.
3-0
----------------------------
rd4 v. Jonah and his Charbelcher
g1
I had Chalice @0 and FoW on turn 1
g2
I had Chalice @0 and Pithing Needle on turn 1
4-0
-----------------------------
rd5 v. Mark using UWg Landstill
g1
I mulligan into 2 Chalices. Chalice at 1 gets forced on my turn 1. Chalice at 1 gets forced on turn 2. His hand is almost empty now, and I play Mox imprinting Psionic Blast, Cloud of Faeries and Sword. Turn 3 equip Sword, begin the pounding.
g2
He Standstills into Standstill, into Standstill. gg.
g3
I get an early Efreet and a Trinket Mage with Needle on Factory. He Krosan Grips my Jitte. With FoW in hand I let him counter and STP more creatures, and stopped Wrath on about turn 7. He also had FoW, but with only 1 life remaining. Tough break dude.
5-0
---------------------------
rd6 v. Another Mark with Ub Colossus/Counterbalance
5-0-1 makes it so we ID.
---------------------------
top8 against Florian Hauptmann with RG Loam/Dreams aggro-control
g1
I won with creatures flying over a very large Tarmogoyf and Terravore.
g2
I feel bad about this. I drew all 3 crypts. I think the advantage was his if I only draw one, but I could see his frustration as I leisurely took control of the game using one with another one already on the table. He eventually got a Needle on it, but the game was over by then.
----------------------------
top 4 [Name] with Ichorid
g1 I did not know his deck, and thought it was Psychatog. I died a horrid death from a lot of zombies.
g2 I figured I could mulligan into a Crypt. I didn't. I kept 5 cards and I am going to have nightmares about zombies for awhile.
----------------------------
So I sucked in the end, but I still got 1.5 boxes out of it. I traded one box for a perfect Moat. So I am very happy.
props:
Jarvis for a good tournament run well
My brother for taking me and all of my friends in his Land Rover
John (chmoddity) for telling me I need Crypts at the last moment
Ally for being alive
slops:
The guys at U.S.A for bringing good decks
Ally for wearing that shirt - that really isn't fair
Gunga Din and his ridiculous $5 pens
She forced. I forced. It was fun. Eventually I pulled it out thanks in large part to huge card advantage pulling three Trinket Mages. And I am lucky that I didn't have to think much.
Wow. Was that supposed to sound so explicit?
Anyway, congrats, Juan. BTW, You can keep the sleaves. I have plenty.
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Quote from Cynical Squirrel »
Now please, go back to blowing your cat and let the real people enjoy society.
A sunny and mild spring day greeted both store regulars and fresh faces for the weekly Sunday Legacy tournament at The Temple Games in Pawtucket, RI. 16 players were matched into four rounds with a top eight cut. The broad field included regulars such as tribal goblins and elves, Bant, Burn, Dredge, Zoo, Team America, Rock, Counter-top, and a pair of mono-black control builds alongside some unusual white control and treefolk home brews – but nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition!
In Round One, my 3rd Degree Burn was pitted in a favorable matchup against Team America. Game one saw a pair of Tarmogoyfs just barely out run the flames and carry the team to victory. Games two and three were a different matter, with the Relic of Progenitus in game two gutting the aforementioned ‘goyfs, and drawing into a copy of itself to keep them impotent for a loss. Burn takes round one.
At other tables, The Eternal Storm ripped through an unfortunate newbie who got a rough first match up. Mono-Black Control Vampires beat up on Bant as a powerful pair of Glooms hit the table – Swords to Plowshares for 7 mana? Ouch! Zoo was out-numbered by a horde of thopters while Counterbalance kept the critters caged and the Wild Nacatls in the graveyard.
Round Two had the controlling vampires facing off against my flames and bolts. Game one came down to the wire as Liliana Vess forced a discard of some much-needed burn while the nefarious Vampire Nighthawk prowled the skies, seeking to gain life by drawing blood, but burn pulled the win before the blood sucker could do any damage. Game two saw Liliana flip a Nighthawk to the top of the pile buffing the Vampire Nocturnus, but maybe she should have ripped at my hand again, as the black beat stick was a few inches short of finishing the game before I turned up the heat for a second win. 3rd degree goes 2-0.
Around the room, Dredge swallowed goblins into the graveyard winning one game on the back of a miss play when the red horde dropped an opportunity to exile the deplorable Bridge From Below. Countertop struggled against Bant, with a last minute Ensnaring Bridge being insufficient to stop the beats as a dead Force of Will kept the hand size above zero and allowed the final points of damage through. It’s not often that the $70 uncommon is a hindrance rather than a help.
Round Three saw the top four undefeated players draw through to the top eight, but games were played for fun anyway. 3rd Degree dropped one game to Bant, but came back with a vengeance to hammer it to what would have been another victory. Dredge took a win against The Eternal Storm in the other “for fun” non-match. Burn goes 2-0-1
Table three saw some massive life gain in game two for Mono-Black Control, holding off Countertop well as the throat-slitting Nighthawks plied their bloody trade. A stunning opening in game three (including three early Duresses) left Countertop reeling with nothing but a single Maze of Ith to hold off a Nantuko Shake and Nighthawk. With the game firmly in the hands of black, a flood of land on both sides favored the player with a fistful of spells and the mana to now sling them, Countertop turned the black tide and pulled out as win as the Vamps slogged into nothing but swamps for five turns.
At table five, the other Black Control was hammering at Bant, with Gatekeepers of Malakir denying entry to several ‘goyfs and a pair of Vampire Nocturnus (Nocturni?) pumping the heck out of a pair of Vampire Nighthawks. Sadly, the black battering just wasn’t enough against the a fat Tombstalker with his own Nighthawks who blocked into a big team swing (was that a missed trigger on the Pulse Tracker?), which nearly wiped the board on both sides, but left the Tombstalker breathing. Umezawa's Jitte dropped the next turn sealed the deal, and Bant took the match.
Round Four saw draws across the board into the top eight. In another fun “non-match”, 3rd Degree squared off against Dredge. The zombie spitting deck easily took game one, but a quick side of Relic of Progenitus and a brace of three in my opening hand all but guaranteed the game two win, as Dredge was never able to keep anything of value in the grave. Another Relic and a weak hand for my opponent locked up game three for the win in the fun round. Burn slides into the top eight at 2nd place with 2-0-2.
Top Eight Elimination started with a re-match against Team America. The match was similar to the first round, with the Team taking game one, and the Relic holding off the ‘goyfs in the next two games as Dark Confidant and fetch lands did some of the work for me. Game three wrapped with a hard cast Force of Will fizzling a lethal Lightning Bolt, only to have a 10 damage Price of Progress land with no way for the Team to counter it, and three Wastelands tapped out, preventing some time-buying self land destruction. The Eternal Storm quickly finished off White Denial, while Goblins didn’t let their second chance slip and chewed through Dredge with help from some bad draws for the grave-master.
Round Two Elimination saw 3rd Degree go down to a first game Empty the Warrens and a 2nd game Tendrils of Agony from The Eternal Storm. Bant hammered the Goblins into submission.
Final Standings:
Nick Romano (The Eternal Storm) and Adam Tanner (Bant) split the top prize, with Dan Livant (3rd Degree Burn) and Mike Souto (Goblins) taking 3rd and 4th respectively.
Congratulations to our top four, and we look forward to seeing everyone again next Sunday!
Easter Sunday saw a dedicated few turn out for the regular 1pm legacy at Temple Games. Grant had the gazebo opened up, and many matches were held out in the sun and fresh air. 10 players turned up for the fun. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming and the pace was relaxed.
Round 1 saw 3rd Degree face off against Dredge. I was doing well until Iona hit the board and completely shut me down. A quick side of Relic of Progenitus kept my hopes up, but they were quickly dashed as I didn’t draw into the needed artifact, and my opponent landed another Iona, despite my best efforts. Zoo was crunched by Countertop.
Round 2, pitted me against Whiteout, but it was an easy match, as my opponent showed nothing but a Mishra’s Factory and Inkmoth Nexus before I crisped his bacon. He sided in 11 cards, and went heavily defensive, but it wasn’t enough as burn raced through three copies of Path to Exile, and a Silence to still take the win before White could set up his board.
In other matches, Dredge hammered Zoo with the cursed Iona, as White Doublestrikers struggled against Cephalid Breakfast. Zoo dropped a Ethersworn Canonist early game two, slowing, but not beating Dredge as the board was swarmed with hasty zombies. Cephalid Breakfast gobbled up the double striking weenies off an empty library.
Round 3 brought a difficult match with Zoo, which dropped game one, nevertheless. Game two forced me to pull an intentional draw, as I Fireblasted my opponent, then cast Flame Rift dealing us both lethal damage. Zoo took game three and I applauded my earlier strategy to draw, keeping me alive in the match. We went to game 4, and it was a close match again, as we played down to a few points before I took the win.
After Round 3, three Dans and a Nick were able to draw into the top 4 spots, as The Epic Storm had to drop, leaving no one able to catch the 9 and 6 point leaders.
Befitting the casual feel of the day, Round 4 was greatly delayed as our gracious hosts provided sustenance in the form of burgers and dogs fresh cooked from the grill – best part of the day. Thanks Grant and Xi!!
I’m going to take a moment here to say that if you haven’t been to the Temple in Pawtucket RI, you’re missing out on truly excellent location. Grant and Ximon are friendly and helpful, welcoming both newer and more experienced players. They have a healthy tournament scene, with regular Legacy and Standard events, mixed with plenty of drafting. The regulars are both friendly and competitive, making for a great atmosphere.
3rd Degree faced off against Cephalid Breakfast for the Semifinal round. I had faced this deck for the first time a few weeks back and it took me by surprise, because I hadn’t seen the build before. Not so much this time, as I knew to disrupt the combo by burning the Cephalid off the board, but still dropped game one. Game two was tighter, but I took the win with a big batch of Red Elemental Blasts in hand. I took a mulligan on game three, to be sure I had a relic in hand, and dropped it on turn one. My opponent was ready to scoop, but I encouraged him to play on anyway. He did a fair job of stabilizing and managed to inflict a little damage, but the Relic held him off and kept him from ever getting his combo off. The Gate took Dredge, holding off the beats with a Royal Assassin and taking the win.
Congratulations to Dan Livant and Dan Livant, father and son splitting the first place win.
Thanks for the kind words. The basic deck list is here. There's some tweaking always going on around the edges and in the side board, but the core is the same week to week.
I'd like to find something to replace the flame rifts.
It was a quiet day at the Temple this Sunday. Grant, Xi, and many of the regulars were out at the GP Trial, leaving Charlie in charge of the register and me running the Legacy event. 11 players showed up nevertheless, to test their wits and cunning in an epic battle of magic and mayhem. I set up four rounds with a top 4 cut, and we were off.
My 3rd Degree got a new name this week, since it’s evolved from its original form. Napalm I’m calling her now – burn that sticks. High Tide made an appearance for the first week this time, doing unsurprisingly well. This was a budget build of mine, replacing the Candelabras with the Snap/Fairy combo and the four copies of Force of Will with the still-solid Spell Pierce. Will it do well enough to place or even win? Other decks included Black Control, Cephalid Breakfast, Other Burn, Reanimater and The Gate.
I pulled a bye the first round, and hoped for an easy slide into the top four cut. Hightide threw down with Black Control for round one, taking the match and showing its resiliency to hand disruption. The Nighthawks are tough, but not fast enough to stay ahead of the flood. Cephalid Breakfast was matched up against Other Burn, and a player unfamiliar with the build. Game one was taken easily, firing off a Dread Return to fetch a Sutured Ghoul and Dragon Breath. Exiling a Krosan Cloudscraper and Death’s Shadow to the Ghoul made for 26 points of hasty beatstick. Game two saw the flexible deck ramp up around 3000 points of life, placing it well out of flame range.
Round two saw Napalm burning at the bars of the Gate. Game one dropped to a misplay on my part. Was it a game changer? I ignored a lonely Gatekeeper of Malakir, choosing instead to use my dying Lavamancer to pop my opponent for 2 to the face. Next turn an Umezawa’s Jitte drops and equips and I have no quick answer, and no answer for the Jitte in my board, since I alternately side out the artifact removal. Game two forced me to mulligan, never a good start for a pure burn deck. I struggled and held on for a bit, taking my lumps from an Abyssal Persecutor, until the hated Vampire Nighthawk hit the board. Almost out of burn, and with no Dark Confidant to help me out, I scooped to the airborne lifegainer when my opponent dropped a second. Right play? Perhaps not, I had a Rift Bolt, and was drawing into another one to handle the second Nighthawk. I may have been able to burn him out before he drew into the removal he needed to kill his own Persecutor, but my headache said differently. The Gate has proven to be a tough matchup for me, mostly because of the life gain, or the Jitte.
In another match, Black Control was pitted against Cephalid Breakfast. Game one went easily to the blue illusionist, but Black came back with Leyline of the Void in games two and three. Something that the Cephailds have a hard time playing around. Always a solid grave-hate card.
Round three brought me face to face with the Reanimated dead. Game one was a quick win, as my opponent kept a less-than-optimal hand of one land and no other mana sources (Lotus Petal). Four turns or so later, he was just getting his mana base together when the final flames took him down. I dropped game two to the ***** Iona. I led game three with my standard grave-hate tool, the Relic of Progenitus. Raise Dead targeted the Entombed Iona, but the Relic scooped her out before she had a chance at rebirth. A second Iona was pitched desperately after the Relic scoop and ahead of the Raise Dead, but being a different Iona, the spell still fizzled and Napalm swooped in for a quick finish.
Round four had The Gate and Hightide draw into the 1 and 2 spots, respectively (*note*, Standings determined by opponents’ match win percentage. Your mileage may vary). So it came down to four determined competitors squaring off for the number 3 and 4 spots. With all at 6 match points, the winners of these would be in the top 4. Reanimater faced Black Control and Napalm faced Cephalid Breakfast.
It was a deck I felt fairly confident I could disrupt now that I was familiar with it, both before and after boarding. Game one was an easy win for me. I never saw my Relic for game two, but it was close. Game three gave me my turn 1 relic, but the Breakfast had a different trick to show this time, with its infinite life gain. I toyed with the idea of making my opponent pass me priority for all 3000 triggers he put on the stack forcing a draw on time and probably giving me the #4 playoff spot on tiebreakers, but figured what the hell, it’s Sunday Legacy and not a big deal. I scooped to the unburnable life total, though questioned the move later. As was pointed out to me, just because I couldn’t win, doesn’t mean my opponent has won. I could have potentially played that game to a draw, or even a loss on his part if he drew off an empty library (having Pondered a few times, his deck was short). I still had the relic out to hold off any real threats, and the little 1/1 and 1/3 he had out weren’t about to beat past my 2/2 Goblin Guides. C'est la vie. I am out, and Cephalid Breakfast walks into the top 4 with Reanimater.
The semi-finals saw a very interesting match of Hightide and Cephalid Breakfast, probably the only real threat to the vaulted build which was there Sunday. They went all the way, but Cephalid Breakfast finally pulled a win in Game three off a Silence. Pact of Negation from the sideboard countered the white control, but left Hightide with no answer for the drop that same turn of the critter/mill combo and the Dread Return beating that was to follow. Would the Candelabra and Force of Will made the difference? Hard to say, but Hightide put in a respectable performance anyway, especially considering it was piloted by a first timer that day.
The Gate took down Reanimater, and Dan Livant II split the top prize of the day with Albert Wooten. Congratulations also to our #’s 3 and 4, Vinnie and Sidney.
This week brought 17 players for Sunday Legacy, including a few new faces. It was a beautiful, sunny day and great for playing outside in The Temples twin gazebos.
This week saw second appearance of Spiral Tide, as I set Napalm aside to pilot the more complicated and consistent deck. The field also included The Gate, two Zoo decks and two Goblin decks. Mono White and Mono Black control builds were in attendance, as was a fresh Affinity deck, Rug, TES, Counter-Top, and our regular Mono-Red Burn. Infect also made an appearance, flexing its toxic muscles. Tide, being the demanding lover it is, left me little time to watch other matches over the first few rounds.
Round One faced me off against our familiar Goblin friends, albeit with a fresh pilot. Game 1 saw a first turn Aether Vial, which spit out a Goblin Lackey and put me on a very short clock. The Lackey dropped a Goblin Ringleader, which (fortunately for me) only hit into another Ringleader. It wasn’t fast enough, and Tide took the win. Game 2 was much more one sided, as the Goblins never landing any substantial hits before the combo set off and I swept the round in short turns, but not short time. Zoo and Affinity was the only match still going when I came inside, with Affinity swarming the board and beating past the Tarmogoyfs and Knight of the Reliquary.
Round Two was against one of the Zoo builds. I took game 1 easily. The Tide went out, however, as it failed to go off when Time Spiral drew me into three lands, two Ponders and nothing else of worth. Several Ponders and Brainstorms left me with a hand full of land, a Turnabout and two lost turns. Game two went to the Zoo. With high hopes and on the play for game three, the Tide let me down again as I chanced a one land hand that was loaded with all my other combo pieces. EIGHT draws, and three discards later, I finally started drawing into my next lands, but much too late. Match Zoo.
I faced an expertly piloted Rug in Round Three for a difficult match. Game one saw the resilient Rug fend me off with a little counterspelling, while it whittled me down for the win. Game two went on quite a bit longer, as The Rug was slow out of the gate and I was biding my time, letting my hand build to where I thought it was as strong as possible. I was cautious, and held off going for the win until I felt I was in a position to deal with any counters my opponent might have. When my opponent attempted a Vendilion Clique on my draw step, I responded by pitching a Ponder to Force of Will. A Red Elemental Blast was the response, and I decided that my only option was to go for the win. I successfully dropped two High Tide, and then Turnabout to untap all my lands, Wishing for a Pact of Negation. The Pact resolved, and I countered the Clique.
With no options left, I warily picked my way toward the win, building toward the Blue Sun rip of my opponent’s library with extra maneuvers to play around potential counters. As I discovered afterward, the extra caution was unnecessary, as a Time Spiral left my opponent with nothing to counter my spell drops, and I mused on how I could have used a Peek or even New Phyrexia’s freebie, Gitaxian Probe to speed things up. As it was, we started game three just as time ran out, and we were immediately on turns. Playing for the draw, it occurred to me after that three turns are enough for Spiral Tide to go off, and still might possibly have won the match. Regardless, the draw was enough to put me in top 8 contention.
Pairing down and facing The Gate for Round Four, my opponent – the now out of top 8 contention Gate, conceded, giving me as good a shot as I would have on the day for hitting top 8. Tie breakers could still push me out, so all I could do was watch the other matches play out and hope for the best.
Around the room, The Rug dropped heavily on Goblins, crushing a turn 1 Aether Vial and robbing them of any chance to come back, despite a turn three Goblin Warchief. A Goblin Sharpshooter/Lookout play cleared Tarmogoyf off the board, but the little green guys weren’t up to the task of taking on Progenitus, and Rug takes the match.
Zoo took on Infect, which was showing an unusual Titan Forge. Land one of those with a Tainted Strike, and you could be bringing some major hurt. Sadly, this rogue build was not up to the task, especially after Gaddock Teeg dropped, shutting down the deck. Napalm and Mono White Control went to a draw in their game 2, as a pair of Price of Progress dumped lethal on both. The deck-which-says-no couldn’t hold off the flames forever, and Napalm takes the match.
Tiebreakers nicked the Rug out and me in by one spot. Thanks to all my prior opponents who played well and kept me in the hunt.
In Top 8 Round one, I faced off against a Raveger free Affinity build. We both took mulligans for the opening game, and the Ornithopers and Signal Pests fell quickly. Cranial Plating buffed the flying artifacts and game one ended quickly. I managed to fend off my opponent in game two for a while with Snaps, bouncing his Signal Pests equipped with the Cranial Plating. Despite having every other piece of the combo, I couldn’t draw into the High Tide I needed, and by the time I got my Merchant Scroll, I was one land short of pulling off the win and I’m out of the top 4.
The other match was done quickly, leaving Zoo and Countertop in a drawn-out contest. Top took game one, and pair of Price of Progress cooked the blue build in game two, after a Steppe Lynx had teased a Swords on the top deck, with no way to bring a two drop back up. Game three was a struggle, with momentum swinging back and forth a few times. Zoo missed a Red Elemental Blast on the Counterbalance, but Krosan Grip was in hand to clear it out, freeing the REB to blast a Jace the Mindsculpter off the stack. A second Counterbalance lands, with the board advantage swinging back to Counter-Top. Zoo attempts a Price of Progress for the draw, but Countertop denies. Zoo resolves a Thrun and a Wild Nacatl, after hitting the second Counterbalance with another Krosan Grip, but it’s just not enough when his opponent has a Lavamancer and, eventually, a trio of Tarmogoyfs to beat and burn to the win.
Congratulations to our top 4 who split – Nick, Dave, Pete and Randy
Well, we’re back after a little hiatus with our Sunday Legacy match reports from Temple Games in Pawtucket RI. Preparations for, and participation in the Providence Grand Prix along with a Kansas City GP Trail at The Temple … (Kansas City? Really)… having wrecked a bit of havoc with the regular Legacy events, are responsible for the brief stay.
Some days the mojo is with you and some days you’re on the wrong end of the voodoo doll. Today, I was the one with pins up my ass. I decided to pilot my modified Spiral Tide build into the fray, and boy was it the wrong choice from the first moment. Tide is just one of those decks where you have to be on your toes the whole time to be successful, especially when facing things like TES or Landstill. My mind was just not in the matches today. I was off my game like Billy Buckner and I paid heavily for it.
Round One was against a fresh UW Stoneforge build. All the usual suspects were in attendance, and I did myself no favors by keeping a land-heavy opening hand. My own missteps were weak against the 2-drop Mystic, and I was quickly battered by the Batterskull. I couldn’t draw into any combo pieces, and dropped a quick game one. I sided in some control for game two, and dropped a turn two Null Rod, hoping to slow my opponent down, but couldn’t get to my combo in time to save myself from another battering from the black-germ pounding.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking.
In another match Dredge threw down with Landstill, and took an easy game one. After boarding, Landstill took game two and then opened game three with a PAIR of Leyline of the Void. Dredge had a single Nature’s Claim, but Landstill stuck a Jace and fatesealed all the way to ultimate leaving Dredge with a seven card library, and no time. Landstill takes the match and will go on to top 4.
Round Two on served to solidly confirm that I was not playing the right deck, as I faced off against Tess. Game one went quickly, and I boarded in the Null Rods for control. I opened with a good hand, and dropped a fetch land. My opponent starts to go off on turn one in game two, and I watch with a Brainstorm in hand, not responding as he attempts a Chrome Mox. Much too late, I realize I could have at least fetched and dug for a Force of Will. Well, that’s too little, too late, and I let the opportunity slide by – Missteping an Oram’s Chant, but losing the game on his turn one anyway.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking.
Round Three was little better, as I faced off against Landstill. Again, I dropped a quick game one, and boarded in some more control. Game two went better, as my opponent was slow off the line and I drew easily into my combo pieces. I drove forward slowly, cautious of the mass control I knew my opponent was packing from watching his match against Dredge. I stuck a couple of High Tides, and was off to the races, intentionally avoiding popping a Time Spiral, so as not to allow him to draw into removal. I took game two and felt a little better about the day. For game three, I kept a one land hand, not really caring at that point if I won or not, and never drew into my second land in six turns.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
I dropped Round Four, and watched as Dredge beat the crap out of Eva Green (sad face Grant).
Elves, Landstill and UW Stoneforge all pulled into the top four cut, with Elves taking the match on the backs of the powerful Vengevine.
Congratulations to Krystian and Jared on making the finals, and Krystian for taking the top spot with his Agro Elves!
Next week, we’re hosting both our regular Legacy event followed by the MTG Commander release event!
Hello everyone, and welcome to our match report for July 3.
An overcast, then rainy Saturday still pulled 10 Legacy players who were competing for table space with the increasingly popular EDH – err… Commander crowd. Several players getting back in to Magic were present, and a welcome addition to our Sunday Regulars. The field was mixed as usual – I went in with Napalm Smoke, and loaned my Spiral Tide to one of our new faces. TES, Elves, The Gate, Merfolk, Stompy, RDW, and another Burn deck were all vying for the win.
Round One, was a burn on burn matchup – always a tricky situation for the color of chaos. Game was a footrace, with both decks pushing hard for the win. Price of Progress sat dead in my hand, as my opponent was running nothing but basic mountains. Down to 2 life, my opponent didn’t top deck his win spell, and the best I could do was Flame Rift for the draw.
Game 2 was close again, as I pitched a Chain Lightning back at my opponent’s face, but fell 1 land short of the win with an active Grim Lavamancer, fuel in the graveyard, but no mana to hit him for the last 2 points. He takes the win. Faithful Flame Rift and Fireblast hand me game 3, and we go onto game 4 to settle the score. Fire raged back and forth in the closest of the four games, as we rolled into the final turn. With nothing left to spare, 1 land in play and both of us at 3 life, I topped a Goblin Guide and swung with a Lavamancer and Guide for the win. I take the match.
In Round 2, I squared off against Elf combo. Game one was an unsurprisingly easy win as two Lavamancers and a guide were out by turn 2. Fetches provided fuel and let me use my ‘mancers to fry elves and hold spell to burn face. In game two, the elves brought out an early Thorn of Amethyst, which slowed me down considerably. My efforts to stop him from setting up cost me precious fuel cooking elves until he dumped a trio of Vengevines in his graveyard, putting me on a very short clock.
Two elf drops latter and he was pounding me for 12 points of damage. With plenty of burn in hand, but just not enough mana to play around the Thorn, game to went to the little green hordes. Game three started out poorly for my opponent, as he was forced to mull to four cards. Another Lavamancer early, and piled on lots of early heat. The short draw allowed me to use just a little fuel to cook the green guys and blast my opponent to an easy victory. Match win for Burn.
Round Three was a draw into the top 4 cut. Around the room, TES and Stompy squared off for the top four cut, while Elves’ future hung in the balance as RDW scooped to give them a chance to move into the cut. Elves and RDW played for fun anyway, and sillyness abounded. Rock, Paper, Scissors decided who was on the play and the Easy Button got a workout as fetch after fetch chipped away at life totals. In game one an early Lavamancer was quickly followed by a turn 2 Plated Geopede and turn 3 Goblin Guide, hammering away for heavy damage. The heavy trio took game two as well, and a pair of Amethysts in game three were just much too late to turn the tide. RDW would have taken an easy win in round three, but still would not have made the cut. Elves’ hopes now rested on TES pulling down Stompy to push it in.
Stompy put on a brave face against the powerful storm deck, but struggled as turn two TES dropped a dirty dozen goblins on the battlefield, and scooped to the overwhelming stupidity in overwhelming numbers. Game two wasn’t much better for Stompy, despite a pair of Sylvan Libraries, it never drew into the beats and lost to Tendrils.
Round one of the cut round pitted me against Merfolk. Game one was an unsurprising win with plenty of fried fish on the menu. Game two was much closer, but a late game Umezawa’s Jitte tipped the tide just enough to cost me the win. Game three was a little more one sided, until a Kira the Great Glass-Spinner picked up the powerful equipment, and wiped away my pair of Confidants, leaving me with an empty hand and no way to stabilize. Match goes to Fish.
Congratulations to Jim and Nick, who split the first place prize and Dan and Krystian for taking third and fourth, respectively.
TempleCon 2012 is gearing up early this year! Our website should be live late Monday, so don’t forget to swing by and get a sneak peek! Pre-registration is very important, and will be available starting in August. Not only will pre-reg save you some scratch, but badges will be mailed out, so you’ll be free to walk right into the con and by-pass the reg deck completely!
TempleCon can always use foot soldiers; if you’re interested in volunteering, swing by the website and let us know!
The Legacy crowd showed up in small numbers, but large spirit today. The popularity of EDH along with the lack of a major tournament in the area seems to have softened the Legacy turnout since the GP in Providence. Decks in attendance included two Merfolk, a Dead Guy Ale, Esper Stone Forge, RDW, Napalm Smoke, Elves and, of course Goblins.
Round one was a match against Goblins – a deck similar to that which went undefeated into day two of the Providence GP. I was on the play for game one, and had a solid opening with a turn one Goblin Guide and turn two Lavamancer, bolting my opponent’s Lackey along the way. Goblins stuck a turn two vial, but never developed a board as I quickly burnt him down to nothing. Game two, my opponent took some momentum as he wasted my Badlands, the only two lands I had in my opening hand. My lone Chaos Warp turned his Eather Vial into a mountain, shutting down a big part of his critter generation. I had blockers to hold off the Lackey and finished him off with the classic Bolt/Fireblast combo.
Round two pitted me against the agro elves – a sad fate since I had stripped out my anti-green guy Volcanic Fallouts. Game one I open with a lone Lavamancer to answer my opponent’s Quirion Ranger. Turn two my opponent dumps his hand plus some on the board, and I scoop to game two. Tactical burn prevented the elves from setting up on game two, which was no contest as I roasted them without even taking a fetch-land hit. Game three was much closer, as I managed to hammer my opponent to one life. I never saw my Relics, so Vengevine came out in force, and pulled me down to eight life. All that was required was a top deck of any of 18 burn spells to strip out that last little bit of damage. Alas, Red failed me and my next burn spell was three draws down. I go to 1-1.
Around the room, and Esper Stone Forge build faced off against RDW sporting a freshly traded altered art Koth – who received much praise when he hit the board. In game two, a pair of Bobs were drawing heavily, but brining the pain. Esper keeps tight control of the board, and RDW never gets the chance to set up. A fully leveled Figure of Destiny makes a desperate bit to stabilize, but he’s quickly Swords’d and Esper takes the win. Game three saw an early Bob push his was past a Brainstorm, and start the draws right away. Turn three Blightning hits hard, stripping away an Ancestral Visions and a Wasteland. Two Figures land shortly after and start leveling, fairly negating the Bitterblossom fairies. Big Jace had died a turn earlier to a Lightning Bolt, and a second one Bounces one of the kitkin, but RDW replays the kithkin along with a Grim Lavamancer, and Esper Stones never manages to stabilize.
Round three washed in a pile of fish, as I was paired against Merfolk. Game one saw me go off a slow start which wasn’t helped any by having a Badland wasted away. Kira squashed what ability I would have had to roast the fish, if I had drawn any business – which I didn’t. A heavy board of two Pyroblast, two Red Elemental Blast and four Smash to Smithereens gave me a better chance in game two, which was still a close shave and was won on the back of teasing counter with a Lava Spike, pushing thorough a Chain Lightning and cleaning up with a pair of Fireblasts. Game three was close as well, with me turning a REB and Pyroblast into 4 damage off Mental Missteps. With two Fireblasts in hand, I took my worthy opponent to ten life, hammering in with a Bob and two Hellspark Elementals, but couldn’t pull out the win as a Bob had burnt me with a Fireblast and pushed my opponent through to a solid win.
Goblins, Elves, Fish and a big tankard of Dead Guy Ale made the top 4 cut.
In the first round of playoffs, Goblins faced off against Merfolk. The blue guys had little defense against the red-spitting vial, which negated much of fish’s counter and standstill. Goblins hammered in for a solid win. Elves faced off against Dead Guy Ale, and the anti-control deck was a poor match for green agro. Chipping away at one or two guys just was ineffective, as the elves had plenty of draw and mana production to recover from all the Dead Guy’s sneaky tricks.
The final match was a classic – Elves Vs Goblins! Bizarrely, goblins set up a powerful board presence with Lackey and Warrant Instigator dropping two Siege Gang commanders and a Matron on the board – but failed to swing against a single Vengevine and Elvish Visionary. A missplayed Gempalm Incinerator left Vengie standing, and Elves respond with a wave of Vengvines, and immediately swing the board advantage back their way. It was painful to watch. Game one to Elves. Goblins never even had a chance in Game 2, as the Elves flooded the board on turn four and locked up a completely dominant board state. Goblins were missing any mass removal from the side board, and Elves went on to an easy win.
Congratulations to Krysitan and Dan II for taking first and second respectively.
Post heat wave Sunday brought eight out for Legacy play at the Temple. I tinkered with Napalm Smoke this week, and tossed in a pair of Shrine of Burning Rage. It’s been strong in Standard, and I was interested to see if it might perform well in my burn deck, which slings red spells at a heavy rate. Sadly, I never got a good test, as the only time it stayed on the board, it stabilized against goblins, which proceeded to swing the next turn for lethal damage anyway. Other deck in attendance were Merfolk, Agro Elves, The Gate, Mono-Black Control, the aforementioned Goblins, and a WU Control Stoneforge build.
Round 1 brought me face to face with the Gate. Game one I was on the draw, and it was a squeaker. I forced to waste a precious Lightning Bolt on a Vampire Nighthawk to thwart the life gain. I got him to six life and had one burn in hand, but never drew into the second burn spell I needed to seal the deal. Game goes to the Gate. Game two was easy enough with me on the play and a solid Goblin Guide start. Game three momentum swung back and forth a few times, and put me against the wall when my opponent landed a Phyrexian Obliterator. In a possible misplay on his part, my opponent Vindicated Shrine instead of my Grim Lavamancer, and it cost him the game as I managed to ping and pop a through a couple of swings by the Obliterator and drew into the final burn I needed to hang in for the match win. Napalm Smoke goes 1-0
The green horde descended on me in Round 2, as I was forced to face Agro Elves. Resilient and fast, Elves have a strong match up against me pre-board. Game one was a quick push for both of us to the red zone. On the draw at one life, with a Fireblast in hand, and facing a full complement of Vengevines, I pulled a Flame Rift and pushed to the draw – a play for which the Rift Bolt has served me more than once. Post-board, with Volcanic Fallout and Relic of Progenitus off the bench, I was in better shape to handle the little green guys. Game 2 went much more quickly and according to plan, with excellent draws and a good quick start. I kept the board clear and my opponent never got a chance to set up. Game 3 left me with a difficult choice, with a Thorn of Amethyst slowing me down, I had to decide between dropping the Relic with one mana left to pop it, or dropping a Bob and pushing my card draw. I chose Bob, and swung in with the Guide, but my opponent cut loose with a 4x4 Vengevine swing, and left me unable to hold on for another turn. Game three as also dangerously close. I had a strong start, and the elves did little damage over the first five turns. I repeated dropped Lavamancers, as my opponent hit them over and over with Darkblast, dredging it to keep up the critter hate. The dredge landed him one Vengevine in the graveyard, and I was forced into an early Relic pop. Buried Alive got him the other three, and he brought the hate with a 16 point swing (including some elves) which took me to a meager 1 life. He was forced to fetch to pull that all off, and put himself to 7 life to do it. I had a Fireblast in hand, but needed a strong top deck for the win. Lava Spike was there to save the game and get me the match win. Napalm Smoke 2 – 0.
We were playing three rounds with a top four cut, so for Round 3, I drew with undefeated Stoneforge, and we played out for fun. The blue white control deck wasn’t fast enough and despite a Forced Goblin Guide, I kept on the heat for an easy win. Price of Progress provided much of the heat, as the deck played few basic lands. Game two, I boarded in the Red Elemental Blasts and Pyroblasts along with a few Smash to Smithereens to handle the Batterskull and Jitte I knew were hiding in the library. Swords took out my turn one Lavamancer before he could bring any damage. I gained that one life, and pushed on. My opponent was more judicious about dropping large quantities of non-basic lands, but I still held a pair of Price of Progress, backed up by a Red Elemental Blast. Guide came out swinging on turn two followed with a Chain Lightning. Pyroblast one hit for a whopping six damage and was backed up with plenty of extra fuel to lock down the win. Napalm Smoke 3-0.
First Round of the top 4 was a match against Goblins. This can be a tricky match vs burn, as the cute little red guys can be explosive on a single turn, and I don’t pack any main deck mass removal. Price of Progress again served me well against an unusual build which sported only four basic mountains in its mana base. Game one saw the mass assault I was expecting, and, though the Shrine and a Fireblast kept it from being as bad as it could have been by killing a Chieftain and Warchief, there were just too many of them, and they had lethal on the board for the next swing. In game two, the Prices shone, as they landed for huge damage and took a quick win as I had plenty of burn to keep the board clear. So we went to game three, guts and glory hanging on the outcome. I came out strong again, but so did my opponent. Our life totals dropped in tandem as we fetched – 19, 18, 17 until I finally got a tiny edge 15/14 with a Lavamancer poke. Bolt brought him to 11, while I dropped to 12 as a dead Siegegang’s token bit and clawed. With plenty of land out, I didn’t hesitate to float mana and sack down for a Fireblast. Lavamancer poked for a couple more before dying to a Gemplam Incinerator. With my floaty mana, I suspended a pair of Rift Bolts, and hoped that my opponent’s stabilizing board wouldn’t be enough to take the win. It was, as he was unable to swing for lethal that turn and I had the two Bolts resolving with two Lava Spikes in hand.
Congratulations to Dan and Mike, who split for First Place and Mike and Krystian who took third and fourth.
Join us next week at The Temple for our special One Year Anniversary! Celebrate YEAR ONE of the Temple with us July 29th through the 31st with 10% off EVERYTHING all weekend and exciting gaming events like FREE Standard FNM, a $10 draft following that, and a great 2HG Legacy event on Sunday! Find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TheTempleGames
This deck gained a lot of attention, a lot of laughs, and a few judge calls. It went 4-4, but should have been at least 6-2 if not for my tournament mistakes (not play errors).
Round 1: vs. U/W Stone Blade
Turn 1 on the draw, I double Glimpse and he allows both. He Force of Wills my first Kobold, but it doesn't matter. Game 2, he mulls to Daze with Mutavault as his only land. Probe tells me I'm safe, and Glimpse tells me I win.
2-0
Round 2: vs. U/W Stoneblade
Terrible keeps are terrible. Both games I fail to mull aggressively enough and lose despite Leak being his only counter in hand.
0-2
Round 3: vs. BUG Control
He Inquisitions poorly both games, failing to see how the deck functions. Letting me keep Glimpse, and not mulling to counters, means I win handily.
2-0
Round 4: vs. Dredge
Dredge. A very good matchup for me, because I am faster and neither of us interacts. Game 1, on the play (not knowing what I'm playing yet), he played Therapy, naming Petal. My hand is 2 petals, Glimpse, and 0s. I lose. Game 2 I have a much better hand, but he races with trip Bridges into turn 2 Zealot for 20.
0-2
Round 5: vs. U/W/B Control
This deck loowed pretty bad. His only interaction with me at all was Hymn. Game 1 I combo out easily. Game 2 I combo out, whiff, forget to pay for Pact. Game 3, I combo out, am just about to win, and draw one too many cards because of sticky sleeves. Game loss.
1-2
Round 6: vs. B/G Smallpox
Another matchup that should be great...unless he lands a turn 1 Hymn (!) ripping out Glimpse. Game 2 I don't mull when I should and a slow grindy death awaits me.
On the bright side, he was quite glum until I played him; my attitude and the style of my deck cheered him up immensely, and he thanked me afterwards. I felt much better as well, after the horrible fiasco of last round.
0-2
Round 7: vs. Affinity
Sitting across from a good friend, who knows my deck and knows he can't race it, I turn 1 easily. Game 2, to cheer myself up further, I side in my Elixir, Memnarch, and Devil's Play game 2. I combo out turn 1 again. When I Land Grant and reveal Memnarch, everyone around (who are in giggling fits from game 1 and know how my deck works) are stunned. They think it's a completely dead card, though I insist I will cast it.
After comboing out turn 1, I drop Elixir and my 4 Petals. I explain that I can now sac the Petals, shuffle them in with Elixir, and re-draw them with my hand full of 0-drops and Scapegoat, while controlling the deck count by several factors so I always draw the right amount. My friend, trying to mess with me, insists I play out the sequence to get my mana. The judge, fearing the time it will take (several judges watched my matches from sheer interest), has me prove the loop to him, asks me how much mana I want, and gives it to me. Because I am cheered up now and don't want to run to time, I simply Devil's Play for 1, then flash it back for 19.
My friend received a hug for cheering me up.
2-0
Round 8: vs. ????
No-show =(((
Friendly matches of note: vs. Round 6 opponent (Smallpox): 2 turn 1 wins in a row. Of course =P
Vs. Belcher: Choose play/draw, each draw 7, drop hands and see who wins. He got 2 after I whiffed both times, and I got 2 turn 1's of my own. The people around us were having difficulty breathing. As he said, "This is how you are NOT supposed to play Magic!"
All-in-all, an incredibly fun and eventful day. I beat myself up plenty, but I did my best, and my deck performed even if I didn't. The number of fans I accrued on the way was very satisfying to my ego. Judges asked how I was doing, players who said beside me before watched intently and complimented my deck, and many people learned the name Cheeri0s.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Slowly breaking.
Any more of this, and Team Troll will be more than just a name.
I know where you post.
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Top 8? 91st?
It doesn't matter all that much...any input you can give will help all of us to keep up with the decks in the format.
Post all tournament reports here!
Note: For online tournaments, I request only results from the higher-order tournaments, such as masters on Magic-League.
"I am in the arcane, and the arcane is in me."
Official Matron Mother of Clan Planar Chaos
Awesome Avatar and signature by DarkNightCavalier
Deraxas, Dark Maiden of Shimia,, still oddly obsessed with a mindmage.
I took Faerie Stompy, as I am comfortable with it, and actually own the cards.
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
9 Island
4 Chrome Mox
1 Seat of the Synod
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Serendib Efreet
4 Sea Drake
4 Trinket Mage
2 Weatherseed Faeries
3 Sword of Fire and Ice
3 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Force of Will
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Pithing Needle
2 Psionic Blast
3 Winter Orb
3 Psychic Purge
2 Pithing Needle
2 Binding Grasp
3 Tormod's Crypt
1 Weatherseed Faeries
1 Engineered Explosives
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rd1 v. Koenig and his little green men
g1
I win the coin flip and figure I have it won when I see Chalice and Ancient Tomb in the opening hand. I was right.
g2
I Mulligan. He gets Lackey, and I don't have an answer in time. Lackey begets Warchief, Warchief begets double Piledriver. We all know the drill.
g3
I have nothing impressive in my opening hand, but I do have a lot of fast mana and a Trinket Mage. He get Lackey on turn 1 again, but I have Psychic Purge this time. Grin. Oh, and Jitte on Trinket Mage for a turn 3 attack=gg.
1-0
-----------------------
rd 2 v. Alan Kroepp with Tron!?
g1
Well, I got a Sea Drake followed by a Cloud of Fairies and an equipped Sword on turn 2, and before he was at 2 mana the game was essentially over.
g2
I had to mulligan twice, and still won. I guess he didn't care for the Chalice at two. How did he win round one? I don't know.
2-0
----------------------------
rd3 v. Ally Southerd with something.
g1
I stared at her. I cleaned up some drool. I lost to a pile of Slivers.
g2
I composed myself long enough to win with two Efreet and a life-gaining Jitte, but it was close.
g3
I mulliganed, but had a turn one Chalice. She forced. I forced. It was fun. Eventually I pulled it out thanks in large part to huge card advantage pulling three Trinket Mages. And I am lucky that I didn't have to think much.
3-0
----------------------------
rd4 v. Jonah and his Charbelcher
g1
I had Chalice @0 and FoW on turn 1
g2
I had Chalice @0 and Pithing Needle on turn 1
4-0
-----------------------------
rd5 v. Mark using UWg Landstill
g1
I mulligan into 2 Chalices. Chalice at 1 gets forced on my turn 1. Chalice at 1 gets forced on turn 2. His hand is almost empty now, and I play Mox imprinting Psionic Blast, Cloud of Faeries and Sword. Turn 3 equip Sword, begin the pounding.
g2
He Standstills into Standstill, into Standstill. gg.
g3
I get an early Efreet and a Trinket Mage with Needle on Factory. He Krosan Grips my Jitte. With FoW in hand I let him counter and STP more creatures, and stopped Wrath on about turn 7. He also had FoW, but with only 1 life remaining. Tough break dude.
5-0
---------------------------
rd6 v. Another Mark with Ub Colossus/Counterbalance
5-0-1 makes it so we ID.
---------------------------
top8 against Florian Hauptmann with RG Loam/Dreams aggro-control
g1
I won with creatures flying over a very large Tarmogoyf and Terravore.
g2
I feel bad about this. I drew all 3 crypts. I think the advantage was his if I only draw one, but I could see his frustration as I leisurely took control of the game using one with another one already on the table. He eventually got a Needle on it, but the game was over by then.
----------------------------
top 4 [Name] with Ichorid
g1 I did not know his deck, and thought it was Psychatog. I died a horrid death from a lot of zombies.
g2 I figured I could mulligan into a Crypt. I didn't. I kept 5 cards and I am going to have nightmares about zombies for awhile.
----------------------------
So I sucked in the end, but I still got 1.5 boxes out of it. I traded one box for a perfect Moat. So I am very happy.
props:
Jarvis for a good tournament run well
My brother for taking me and all of my friends in his Land Rover
John (chmoddity) for telling me I need Crypts at the last moment
Ally for being alive
slops:
The guys at U.S.A for bringing good decks
Ally for wearing that shirt - that really isn't fair
Gunga Din and his ridiculous $5 pens
Anyway, congrats, Juan. BTW, You can keep the sleaves. I have plenty.
In Round One, my 3rd Degree Burn was pitted in a favorable matchup against Team America. Game one saw a pair of Tarmogoyfs just barely out run the flames and carry the team to victory. Games two and three were a different matter, with the Relic of Progenitus in game two gutting the aforementioned ‘goyfs, and drawing into a copy of itself to keep them impotent for a loss. Burn takes round one.
At other tables, The Eternal Storm ripped through an unfortunate newbie who got a rough first match up. Mono-Black Control Vampires beat up on Bant as a powerful pair of Glooms hit the table – Swords to Plowshares for 7 mana? Ouch! Zoo was out-numbered by a horde of thopters while Counterbalance kept the critters caged and the Wild Nacatls in the graveyard.
Round Two had the controlling vampires facing off against my flames and bolts. Game one came down to the wire as Liliana Vess forced a discard of some much-needed burn while the nefarious Vampire Nighthawk prowled the skies, seeking to gain life by drawing blood, but burn pulled the win before the blood sucker could do any damage. Game two saw Liliana flip a Nighthawk to the top of the pile buffing the Vampire Nocturnus, but maybe she should have ripped at my hand again, as the black beat stick was a few inches short of finishing the game before I turned up the heat for a second win. 3rd degree goes 2-0.
Around the room, Dredge swallowed goblins into the graveyard winning one game on the back of a miss play when the red horde dropped an opportunity to exile the deplorable Bridge From Below. Countertop struggled against Bant, with a last minute Ensnaring Bridge being insufficient to stop the beats as a dead Force of Will kept the hand size above zero and allowed the final points of damage through. It’s not often that the $70 uncommon is a hindrance rather than a help.
Round Three saw the top four undefeated players draw through to the top eight, but games were played for fun anyway. 3rd Degree dropped one game to Bant, but came back with a vengeance to hammer it to what would have been another victory. Dredge took a win against The Eternal Storm in the other “for fun” non-match. Burn goes 2-0-1
Table three saw some massive life gain in game two for Mono-Black Control, holding off Countertop well as the throat-slitting Nighthawks plied their bloody trade. A stunning opening in game three (including three early Duresses) left Countertop reeling with nothing but a single Maze of Ith to hold off a Nantuko Shake and Nighthawk. With the game firmly in the hands of black, a flood of land on both sides favored the player with a fistful of spells and the mana to now sling them, Countertop turned the black tide and pulled out as win as the Vamps slogged into nothing but swamps for five turns.
At table five, the other Black Control was hammering at Bant, with Gatekeepers of Malakir denying entry to several ‘goyfs and a pair of Vampire Nocturnus (Nocturni?) pumping the heck out of a pair of Vampire Nighthawks. Sadly, the black battering just wasn’t enough against the a fat Tombstalker with his own Nighthawks who blocked into a big team swing (was that a missed trigger on the Pulse Tracker?), which nearly wiped the board on both sides, but left the Tombstalker breathing. Umezawa's Jitte dropped the next turn sealed the deal, and Bant took the match.
Round Four saw draws across the board into the top eight. In another fun “non-match”, 3rd Degree squared off against Dredge. The zombie spitting deck easily took game one, but a quick side of Relic of Progenitus and a brace of three in my opening hand all but guaranteed the game two win, as Dredge was never able to keep anything of value in the grave. Another Relic and a weak hand for my opponent locked up game three for the win in the fun round. Burn slides into the top eight at 2nd place with 2-0-2.
Top Eight Elimination started with a re-match against Team America. The match was similar to the first round, with the Team taking game one, and the Relic holding off the ‘goyfs in the next two games as Dark Confidant and fetch lands did some of the work for me. Game three wrapped with a hard cast Force of Will fizzling a lethal Lightning Bolt, only to have a 10 damage Price of Progress land with no way for the Team to counter it, and three Wastelands tapped out, preventing some time-buying self land destruction. The Eternal Storm quickly finished off White Denial, while Goblins didn’t let their second chance slip and chewed through Dredge with help from some bad draws for the grave-master.
Round Two Elimination saw 3rd Degree go down to a first game Empty the Warrens and a 2nd game Tendrils of Agony from The Eternal Storm. Bant hammered the Goblins into submission.
Final Standings:
Nick Romano (The Eternal Storm) and Adam Tanner (Bant) split the top prize, with Dan Livant (3rd Degree Burn) and Mike Souto (Goblins) taking 3rd and 4th respectively.
Congratulations to our top four, and we look forward to seeing everyone again next Sunday!
Round 1 saw 3rd Degree face off against Dredge. I was doing well until Iona hit the board and completely shut me down. A quick side of Relic of Progenitus kept my hopes up, but they were quickly dashed as I didn’t draw into the needed artifact, and my opponent landed another Iona, despite my best efforts. Zoo was crunched by Countertop.
Round 2, pitted me against Whiteout, but it was an easy match, as my opponent showed nothing but a Mishra’s Factory and Inkmoth Nexus before I crisped his bacon. He sided in 11 cards, and went heavily defensive, but it wasn’t enough as burn raced through three copies of Path to Exile, and a Silence to still take the win before White could set up his board.
In other matches, Dredge hammered Zoo with the cursed Iona, as White Doublestrikers struggled against Cephalid Breakfast. Zoo dropped a Ethersworn Canonist early game two, slowing, but not beating Dredge as the board was swarmed with hasty zombies. Cephalid Breakfast gobbled up the double striking weenies off an empty library.
Round 3 brought a difficult match with Zoo, which dropped game one, nevertheless. Game two forced me to pull an intentional draw, as I Fireblasted my opponent, then cast Flame Rift dealing us both lethal damage. Zoo took game three and I applauded my earlier strategy to draw, keeping me alive in the match. We went to game 4, and it was a close match again, as we played down to a few points before I took the win.
After Round 3, three Dans and a Nick were able to draw into the top 4 spots, as The Epic Storm had to drop, leaving no one able to catch the 9 and 6 point leaders.
Befitting the casual feel of the day, Round 4 was greatly delayed as our gracious hosts provided sustenance in the form of burgers and dogs fresh cooked from the grill – best part of the day. Thanks Grant and Xi!!
I’m going to take a moment here to say that if you haven’t been to the Temple in Pawtucket RI, you’re missing out on truly excellent location. Grant and Ximon are friendly and helpful, welcoming both newer and more experienced players. They have a healthy tournament scene, with regular Legacy and Standard events, mixed with plenty of drafting. The regulars are both friendly and competitive, making for a great atmosphere.
3rd Degree faced off against Cephalid Breakfast for the Semifinal round. I had faced this deck for the first time a few weeks back and it took me by surprise, because I hadn’t seen the build before. Not so much this time, as I knew to disrupt the combo by burning the Cephalid off the board, but still dropped game one. Game two was tighter, but I took the win with a big batch of Red Elemental Blasts in hand. I took a mulligan on game three, to be sure I had a relic in hand, and dropped it on turn one. My opponent was ready to scoop, but I encouraged him to play on anyway. He did a fair job of stabilizing and managed to inflict a little damage, but the Relic held him off and kept him from ever getting his combo off. The Gate took Dredge, holding off the beats with a Royal Assassin and taking the win.
Congratulations to Dan Livant and Dan Livant, father and son splitting the first place win.
Thanks for the kind words. The basic deck list is here. There's some tweaking always going on around the edges and in the side board, but the core is the same week to week.
I'd like to find something to replace the flame rifts.
It was a quiet day at the Temple this Sunday. Grant, Xi, and many of the regulars were out at the GP Trial, leaving Charlie in charge of the register and me running the Legacy event. 11 players showed up nevertheless, to test their wits and cunning in an epic battle of magic and mayhem. I set up four rounds with a top 4 cut, and we were off.
My 3rd Degree got a new name this week, since it’s evolved from its original form. Napalm I’m calling her now – burn that sticks. High Tide made an appearance for the first week this time, doing unsurprisingly well. This was a budget build of mine, replacing the Candelabras with the Snap/Fairy combo and the four copies of Force of Will with the still-solid Spell Pierce. Will it do well enough to place or even win? Other decks included Black Control, Cephalid Breakfast, Other Burn, Reanimater and The Gate.
I pulled a bye the first round, and hoped for an easy slide into the top four cut. Hightide threw down with Black Control for round one, taking the match and showing its resiliency to hand disruption. The Nighthawks are tough, but not fast enough to stay ahead of the flood. Cephalid Breakfast was matched up against Other Burn, and a player unfamiliar with the build. Game one was taken easily, firing off a Dread Return to fetch a Sutured Ghoul and Dragon Breath. Exiling a Krosan Cloudscraper and Death’s Shadow to the Ghoul made for 26 points of hasty beatstick. Game two saw the flexible deck ramp up around 3000 points of life, placing it well out of flame range.
Round two saw Napalm burning at the bars of the Gate. Game one dropped to a misplay on my part. Was it a game changer? I ignored a lonely Gatekeeper of Malakir, choosing instead to use my dying Lavamancer to pop my opponent for 2 to the face. Next turn an Umezawa’s Jitte drops and equips and I have no quick answer, and no answer for the Jitte in my board, since I alternately side out the artifact removal. Game two forced me to mulligan, never a good start for a pure burn deck. I struggled and held on for a bit, taking my lumps from an Abyssal Persecutor, until the hated Vampire Nighthawk hit the board. Almost out of burn, and with no Dark Confidant to help me out, I scooped to the airborne lifegainer when my opponent dropped a second. Right play? Perhaps not, I had a Rift Bolt, and was drawing into another one to handle the second Nighthawk. I may have been able to burn him out before he drew into the removal he needed to kill his own Persecutor, but my headache said differently. The Gate has proven to be a tough matchup for me, mostly because of the life gain, or the Jitte.
In another match, Black Control was pitted against Cephalid Breakfast. Game one went easily to the blue illusionist, but Black came back with Leyline of the Void in games two and three. Something that the Cephailds have a hard time playing around. Always a solid grave-hate card.
Round three brought me face to face with the Reanimated dead. Game one was a quick win, as my opponent kept a less-than-optimal hand of one land and no other mana sources (Lotus Petal). Four turns or so later, he was just getting his mana base together when the final flames took him down. I dropped game two to the ***** Iona. I led game three with my standard grave-hate tool, the Relic of Progenitus. Raise Dead targeted the Entombed Iona, but the Relic scooped her out before she had a chance at rebirth. A second Iona was pitched desperately after the Relic scoop and ahead of the Raise Dead, but being a different Iona, the spell still fizzled and Napalm swooped in for a quick finish.
Round four had The Gate and Hightide draw into the 1 and 2 spots, respectively (*note*, Standings determined by opponents’ match win percentage. Your mileage may vary). So it came down to four determined competitors squaring off for the number 3 and 4 spots. With all at 6 match points, the winners of these would be in the top 4. Reanimater faced Black Control and Napalm faced Cephalid Breakfast.
It was a deck I felt fairly confident I could disrupt now that I was familiar with it, both before and after boarding. Game one was an easy win for me. I never saw my Relic for game two, but it was close. Game three gave me my turn 1 relic, but the Breakfast had a different trick to show this time, with its infinite life gain. I toyed with the idea of making my opponent pass me priority for all 3000 triggers he put on the stack forcing a draw on time and probably giving me the #4 playoff spot on tiebreakers, but figured what the hell, it’s Sunday Legacy and not a big deal. I scooped to the unburnable life total, though questioned the move later. As was pointed out to me, just because I couldn’t win, doesn’t mean my opponent has won. I could have potentially played that game to a draw, or even a loss on his part if he drew off an empty library (having Pondered a few times, his deck was short). I still had the relic out to hold off any real threats, and the little 1/1 and 1/3 he had out weren’t about to beat past my 2/2 Goblin Guides. C'est la vie. I am out, and Cephalid Breakfast walks into the top 4 with Reanimater.
The semi-finals saw a very interesting match of Hightide and Cephalid Breakfast, probably the only real threat to the vaulted build which was there Sunday. They went all the way, but Cephalid Breakfast finally pulled a win in Game three off a Silence. Pact of Negation from the sideboard countered the white control, but left Hightide with no answer for the drop that same turn of the critter/mill combo and the Dread Return beating that was to follow. Would the Candelabra and Force of Will made the difference? Hard to say, but Hightide put in a respectable performance anyway, especially considering it was piloted by a first timer that day.
The Gate took down Reanimater, and Dan Livant II split the top prize of the day with Albert Wooten. Congratulations also to our #’s 3 and 4, Vinnie and Sidney.
This week saw second appearance of Spiral Tide, as I set Napalm aside to pilot the more complicated and consistent deck. The field also included The Gate, two Zoo decks and two Goblin decks. Mono White and Mono Black control builds were in attendance, as was a fresh Affinity deck, Rug, TES, Counter-Top, and our regular Mono-Red Burn. Infect also made an appearance, flexing its toxic muscles. Tide, being the demanding lover it is, left me little time to watch other matches over the first few rounds.
Round One faced me off against our familiar Goblin friends, albeit with a fresh pilot. Game 1 saw a first turn Aether Vial, which spit out a Goblin Lackey and put me on a very short clock. The Lackey dropped a Goblin Ringleader, which (fortunately for me) only hit into another Ringleader. It wasn’t fast enough, and Tide took the win. Game 2 was much more one sided, as the Goblins never landing any substantial hits before the combo set off and I swept the round in short turns, but not short time. Zoo and Affinity was the only match still going when I came inside, with Affinity swarming the board and beating past the Tarmogoyfs and Knight of the Reliquary.
Round Two was against one of the Zoo builds. I took game 1 easily. The Tide went out, however, as it failed to go off when Time Spiral drew me into three lands, two Ponders and nothing else of worth. Several Ponders and Brainstorms left me with a hand full of land, a Turnabout and two lost turns. Game two went to the Zoo. With high hopes and on the play for game three, the Tide let me down again as I chanced a one land hand that was loaded with all my other combo pieces. EIGHT draws, and three discards later, I finally started drawing into my next lands, but much too late. Match Zoo.
I faced an expertly piloted Rug in Round Three for a difficult match. Game one saw the resilient Rug fend me off with a little counterspelling, while it whittled me down for the win. Game two went on quite a bit longer, as The Rug was slow out of the gate and I was biding my time, letting my hand build to where I thought it was as strong as possible. I was cautious, and held off going for the win until I felt I was in a position to deal with any counters my opponent might have. When my opponent attempted a Vendilion Clique on my draw step, I responded by pitching a Ponder to Force of Will. A Red Elemental Blast was the response, and I decided that my only option was to go for the win. I successfully dropped two High Tide, and then Turnabout to untap all my lands, Wishing for a Pact of Negation. The Pact resolved, and I countered the Clique.
With no options left, I warily picked my way toward the win, building toward the Blue Sun rip of my opponent’s library with extra maneuvers to play around potential counters. As I discovered afterward, the extra caution was unnecessary, as a Time Spiral left my opponent with nothing to counter my spell drops, and I mused on how I could have used a Peek or even New Phyrexia’s freebie, Gitaxian Probe to speed things up. As it was, we started game three just as time ran out, and we were immediately on turns. Playing for the draw, it occurred to me after that three turns are enough for Spiral Tide to go off, and still might possibly have won the match. Regardless, the draw was enough to put me in top 8 contention.
Pairing down and facing The Gate for Round Four, my opponent – the now out of top 8 contention Gate, conceded, giving me as good a shot as I would have on the day for hitting top 8. Tie breakers could still push me out, so all I could do was watch the other matches play out and hope for the best.
Around the room, The Rug dropped heavily on Goblins, crushing a turn 1 Aether Vial and robbing them of any chance to come back, despite a turn three Goblin Warchief. A Goblin Sharpshooter/Lookout play cleared Tarmogoyf off the board, but the little green guys weren’t up to the task of taking on Progenitus, and Rug takes the match.
Zoo took on Infect, which was showing an unusual Titan Forge. Land one of those with a Tainted Strike, and you could be bringing some major hurt. Sadly, this rogue build was not up to the task, especially after Gaddock Teeg dropped, shutting down the deck. Napalm and Mono White Control went to a draw in their game 2, as a pair of Price of Progress dumped lethal on both. The deck-which-says-no couldn’t hold off the flames forever, and Napalm takes the match.
Tiebreakers nicked the Rug out and me in by one spot. Thanks to all my prior opponents who played well and kept me in the hunt.
In Top 8 Round one, I faced off against a Raveger free Affinity build. We both took mulligans for the opening game, and the Ornithopers and Signal Pests fell quickly. Cranial Plating buffed the flying artifacts and game one ended quickly. I managed to fend off my opponent in game two for a while with Snaps, bouncing his Signal Pests equipped with the Cranial Plating. Despite having every other piece of the combo, I couldn’t draw into the High Tide I needed, and by the time I got my Merchant Scroll, I was one land short of pulling off the win and I’m out of the top 4.
The other match was done quickly, leaving Zoo and Countertop in a drawn-out contest. Top took game one, and pair of Price of Progress cooked the blue build in game two, after a Steppe Lynx had teased a Swords on the top deck, with no way to bring a two drop back up. Game three was a struggle, with momentum swinging back and forth a few times. Zoo missed a Red Elemental Blast on the Counterbalance, but Krosan Grip was in hand to clear it out, freeing the REB to blast a Jace the Mindsculpter off the stack. A second Counterbalance lands, with the board advantage swinging back to Counter-Top. Zoo attempts a Price of Progress for the draw, but Countertop denies. Zoo resolves a Thrun and a Wild Nacatl, after hitting the second Counterbalance with another Krosan Grip, but it’s just not enough when his opponent has a Lavamancer and, eventually, a trio of Tarmogoyfs to beat and burn to the win.
Congratulations to our top 4 who split – Nick, Dave, Pete and Randy
Some days the mojo is with you and some days you’re on the wrong end of the voodoo doll. Today, I was the one with pins up my ass. I decided to pilot my modified Spiral Tide build into the fray, and boy was it the wrong choice from the first moment. Tide is just one of those decks where you have to be on your toes the whole time to be successful, especially when facing things like TES or Landstill. My mind was just not in the matches today. I was off my game like Billy Buckner and I paid heavily for it.
Round One was against a fresh UW Stoneforge build. All the usual suspects were in attendance, and I did myself no favors by keeping a land-heavy opening hand. My own missteps were weak against the 2-drop Mystic, and I was quickly battered by the Batterskull. I couldn’t draw into any combo pieces, and dropped a quick game one. I sided in some control for game two, and dropped a turn two Null Rod, hoping to slow my opponent down, but couldn’t get to my combo in time to save myself from another battering from the black-germ pounding.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking.
In another match Dredge threw down with Landstill, and took an easy game one. After boarding, Landstill took game two and then opened game three with a PAIR of Leyline of the Void. Dredge had a single Nature’s Claim, but Landstill stuck a Jace and fatesealed all the way to ultimate leaving Dredge with a seven card library, and no time. Landstill takes the match and will go on to top 4.
Round Two on served to solidly confirm that I was not playing the right deck, as I faced off against Tess. Game one went quickly, and I boarded in the Null Rods for control. I opened with a good hand, and dropped a fetch land. My opponent starts to go off on turn one in game two, and I watch with a Brainstorm in hand, not responding as he attempts a Chrome Mox. Much too late, I realize I could have at least fetched and dug for a Force of Will. Well, that’s too little, too late, and I let the opportunity slide by – Missteping an Oram’s Chant, but losing the game on his turn one anyway.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking.
Round Three was little better, as I faced off against Landstill. Again, I dropped a quick game one, and boarded in some more control. Game two went better, as my opponent was slow off the line and I drew easily into my combo pieces. I drove forward slowly, cautious of the mass control I knew my opponent was packing from watching his match against Dredge. I stuck a couple of High Tides, and was off to the races, intentionally avoiding popping a Time Spiral, so as not to allow him to draw into removal. I took game two and felt a little better about the day. For game three, I kept a one land hand, not really caring at that point if I won or not, and never drew into my second land in six turns.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
I dropped Round Four, and watched as Dredge beat the crap out of Eva Green (sad face Grant).
Elves, Landstill and UW Stoneforge all pulled into the top four cut, with Elves taking the match on the backs of the powerful Vengevine.
Congratulations to Krystian and Jared on making the finals, and Krystian for taking the top spot with his Agro Elves!
Next week, we’re hosting both our regular Legacy event followed by the MTG Commander release event!
An overcast, then rainy Saturday still pulled 10 Legacy players who were competing for table space with the increasingly popular EDH – err… Commander crowd. Several players getting back in to Magic were present, and a welcome addition to our Sunday Regulars. The field was mixed as usual – I went in with Napalm Smoke, and loaned my Spiral Tide to one of our new faces. TES, Elves, The Gate, Merfolk, Stompy, RDW, and another Burn deck were all vying for the win.
Round One, was a burn on burn matchup – always a tricky situation for the color of chaos. Game was a footrace, with both decks pushing hard for the win. Price of Progress sat dead in my hand, as my opponent was running nothing but basic mountains. Down to 2 life, my opponent didn’t top deck his win spell, and the best I could do was Flame Rift for the draw.
Game 2 was close again, as I pitched a Chain Lightning back at my opponent’s face, but fell 1 land short of the win with an active Grim Lavamancer, fuel in the graveyard, but no mana to hit him for the last 2 points. He takes the win. Faithful Flame Rift and Fireblast hand me game 3, and we go onto game 4 to settle the score. Fire raged back and forth in the closest of the four games, as we rolled into the final turn. With nothing left to spare, 1 land in play and both of us at 3 life, I topped a Goblin Guide and swung with a Lavamancer and Guide for the win. I take the match.
In Round 2, I squared off against Elf combo. Game one was an unsurprisingly easy win as two Lavamancers and a guide were out by turn 2. Fetches provided fuel and let me use my ‘mancers to fry elves and hold spell to burn face. In game two, the elves brought out an early Thorn of Amethyst, which slowed me down considerably. My efforts to stop him from setting up cost me precious fuel cooking elves until he dumped a trio of Vengevines in his graveyard, putting me on a very short clock.
Two elf drops latter and he was pounding me for 12 points of damage. With plenty of burn in hand, but just not enough mana to play around the Thorn, game to went to the little green hordes. Game three started out poorly for my opponent, as he was forced to mull to four cards. Another Lavamancer early, and piled on lots of early heat. The short draw allowed me to use just a little fuel to cook the green guys and blast my opponent to an easy victory. Match win for Burn.
Round Three was a draw into the top 4 cut. Around the room, TES and Stompy squared off for the top four cut, while Elves’ future hung in the balance as RDW scooped to give them a chance to move into the cut. Elves and RDW played for fun anyway, and sillyness abounded. Rock, Paper, Scissors decided who was on the play and the Easy Button got a workout as fetch after fetch chipped away at life totals. In game one an early Lavamancer was quickly followed by a turn 2 Plated Geopede and turn 3 Goblin Guide, hammering away for heavy damage. The heavy trio took game two as well, and a pair of Amethysts in game three were just much too late to turn the tide. RDW would have taken an easy win in round three, but still would not have made the cut. Elves’ hopes now rested on TES pulling down Stompy to push it in.
Stompy put on a brave face against the powerful storm deck, but struggled as turn two TES dropped a dirty dozen goblins on the battlefield, and scooped to the overwhelming stupidity in overwhelming numbers. Game two wasn’t much better for Stompy, despite a pair of Sylvan Libraries, it never drew into the beats and lost to Tendrils.
Round one of the cut round pitted me against Merfolk. Game one was an unsurprising win with plenty of fried fish on the menu. Game two was much closer, but a late game Umezawa’s Jitte tipped the tide just enough to cost me the win. Game three was a little more one sided, until a Kira the Great Glass-Spinner picked up the powerful equipment, and wiped away my pair of Confidants, leaving me with an empty hand and no way to stabilize. Match goes to Fish.
Congratulations to Jim and Nick, who split the first place prize and Dan and Krystian for taking third and fourth, respectively.
TempleCon 2012 is gearing up early this year! Our website should be live late Monday, so don’t forget to swing by and get a sneak peek! Pre-registration is very important, and will be available starting in August. Not only will pre-reg save you some scratch, but badges will be mailed out, so you’ll be free to walk right into the con and by-pass the reg deck completely!
TempleCon can always use foot soldiers; if you’re interested in volunteering, swing by the website and let us know!
Round one was a match against Goblins – a deck similar to that which went undefeated into day two of the Providence GP. I was on the play for game one, and had a solid opening with a turn one Goblin Guide and turn two Lavamancer, bolting my opponent’s Lackey along the way. Goblins stuck a turn two vial, but never developed a board as I quickly burnt him down to nothing. Game two, my opponent took some momentum as he wasted my Badlands, the only two lands I had in my opening hand. My lone Chaos Warp turned his Eather Vial into a mountain, shutting down a big part of his critter generation. I had blockers to hold off the Lackey and finished him off with the classic Bolt/Fireblast combo.
Round two pitted me against the agro elves – a sad fate since I had stripped out my anti-green guy Volcanic Fallouts. Game one I open with a lone Lavamancer to answer my opponent’s Quirion Ranger. Turn two my opponent dumps his hand plus some on the board, and I scoop to game two. Tactical burn prevented the elves from setting up on game two, which was no contest as I roasted them without even taking a fetch-land hit. Game three was much closer, as I managed to hammer my opponent to one life. I never saw my Relics, so Vengevine came out in force, and pulled me down to eight life. All that was required was a top deck of any of 18 burn spells to strip out that last little bit of damage. Alas, Red failed me and my next burn spell was three draws down. I go to 1-1.
Around the room, and Esper Stone Forge build faced off against RDW sporting a freshly traded altered art Koth – who received much praise when he hit the board. In game two, a pair of Bobs were drawing heavily, but brining the pain. Esper keeps tight control of the board, and RDW never gets the chance to set up. A fully leveled Figure of Destiny makes a desperate bit to stabilize, but he’s quickly Swords’d and Esper takes the win. Game three saw an early Bob push his was past a Brainstorm, and start the draws right away. Turn three Blightning hits hard, stripping away an Ancestral Visions and a Wasteland. Two Figures land shortly after and start leveling, fairly negating the Bitterblossom fairies. Big Jace had died a turn earlier to a Lightning Bolt, and a second one Bounces one of the kitkin, but RDW replays the kithkin along with a Grim Lavamancer, and Esper Stones never manages to stabilize.
Round three washed in a pile of fish, as I was paired against Merfolk. Game one saw me go off a slow start which wasn’t helped any by having a Badland wasted away. Kira squashed what ability I would have had to roast the fish, if I had drawn any business – which I didn’t. A heavy board of two Pyroblast, two Red Elemental Blast and four Smash to Smithereens gave me a better chance in game two, which was still a close shave and was won on the back of teasing counter with a Lava Spike, pushing thorough a Chain Lightning and cleaning up with a pair of Fireblasts. Game three was close as well, with me turning a REB and Pyroblast into 4 damage off Mental Missteps. With two Fireblasts in hand, I took my worthy opponent to ten life, hammering in with a Bob and two Hellspark Elementals, but couldn’t pull out the win as a Bob had burnt me with a Fireblast and pushed my opponent through to a solid win.
Goblins, Elves, Fish and a big tankard of Dead Guy Ale made the top 4 cut.
In the first round of playoffs, Goblins faced off against Merfolk. The blue guys had little defense against the red-spitting vial, which negated much of fish’s counter and standstill. Goblins hammered in for a solid win. Elves faced off against Dead Guy Ale, and the anti-control deck was a poor match for green agro. Chipping away at one or two guys just was ineffective, as the elves had plenty of draw and mana production to recover from all the Dead Guy’s sneaky tricks.
The final match was a classic – Elves Vs Goblins! Bizarrely, goblins set up a powerful board presence with Lackey and Warrant Instigator dropping two Siege Gang commanders and a Matron on the board – but failed to swing against a single Vengevine and Elvish Visionary. A missplayed Gempalm Incinerator left Vengie standing, and Elves respond with a wave of Vengvines, and immediately swing the board advantage back their way. It was painful to watch. Game one to Elves. Goblins never even had a chance in Game 2, as the Elves flooded the board on turn four and locked up a completely dominant board state. Goblins were missing any mass removal from the side board, and Elves went on to an easy win.
Congratulations to Krysitan and Dan II for taking first and second respectively.
Round 1 brought me face to face with the Gate. Game one I was on the draw, and it was a squeaker. I forced to waste a precious Lightning Bolt on a Vampire Nighthawk to thwart the life gain. I got him to six life and had one burn in hand, but never drew into the second burn spell I needed to seal the deal. Game goes to the Gate. Game two was easy enough with me on the play and a solid Goblin Guide start. Game three momentum swung back and forth a few times, and put me against the wall when my opponent landed a Phyrexian Obliterator. In a possible misplay on his part, my opponent Vindicated Shrine instead of my Grim Lavamancer, and it cost him the game as I managed to ping and pop a through a couple of swings by the Obliterator and drew into the final burn I needed to hang in for the match win. Napalm Smoke goes 1-0
The green horde descended on me in Round 2, as I was forced to face Agro Elves. Resilient and fast, Elves have a strong match up against me pre-board. Game one was a quick push for both of us to the red zone. On the draw at one life, with a Fireblast in hand, and facing a full complement of Vengevines, I pulled a Flame Rift and pushed to the draw – a play for which the Rift Bolt has served me more than once. Post-board, with Volcanic Fallout and Relic of Progenitus off the bench, I was in better shape to handle the little green guys. Game 2 went much more quickly and according to plan, with excellent draws and a good quick start. I kept the board clear and my opponent never got a chance to set up. Game 3 left me with a difficult choice, with a Thorn of Amethyst slowing me down, I had to decide between dropping the Relic with one mana left to pop it, or dropping a Bob and pushing my card draw. I chose Bob, and swung in with the Guide, but my opponent cut loose with a 4x4 Vengevine swing, and left me unable to hold on for another turn. Game three as also dangerously close. I had a strong start, and the elves did little damage over the first five turns. I repeated dropped Lavamancers, as my opponent hit them over and over with Darkblast, dredging it to keep up the critter hate. The dredge landed him one Vengevine in the graveyard, and I was forced into an early Relic pop. Buried Alive got him the other three, and he brought the hate with a 16 point swing (including some elves) which took me to a meager 1 life. He was forced to fetch to pull that all off, and put himself to 7 life to do it. I had a Fireblast in hand, but needed a strong top deck for the win. Lava Spike was there to save the game and get me the match win. Napalm Smoke 2 – 0.
We were playing three rounds with a top four cut, so for Round 3, I drew with undefeated Stoneforge, and we played out for fun. The blue white control deck wasn’t fast enough and despite a Forced Goblin Guide, I kept on the heat for an easy win. Price of Progress provided much of the heat, as the deck played few basic lands. Game two, I boarded in the Red Elemental Blasts and Pyroblasts along with a few Smash to Smithereens to handle the Batterskull and Jitte I knew were hiding in the library. Swords took out my turn one Lavamancer before he could bring any damage. I gained that one life, and pushed on. My opponent was more judicious about dropping large quantities of non-basic lands, but I still held a pair of Price of Progress, backed up by a Red Elemental Blast. Guide came out swinging on turn two followed with a Chain Lightning. Pyroblast one hit for a whopping six damage and was backed up with plenty of extra fuel to lock down the win. Napalm Smoke 3-0.
First Round of the top 4 was a match against Goblins. This can be a tricky match vs burn, as the cute little red guys can be explosive on a single turn, and I don’t pack any main deck mass removal. Price of Progress again served me well against an unusual build which sported only four basic mountains in its mana base. Game one saw the mass assault I was expecting, and, though the Shrine and a Fireblast kept it from being as bad as it could have been by killing a Chieftain and Warchief, there were just too many of them, and they had lethal on the board for the next swing. In game two, the Prices shone, as they landed for huge damage and took a quick win as I had plenty of burn to keep the board clear. So we went to game three, guts and glory hanging on the outcome. I came out strong again, but so did my opponent. Our life totals dropped in tandem as we fetched – 19, 18, 17 until I finally got a tiny edge 15/14 with a Lavamancer poke. Bolt brought him to 11, while I dropped to 12 as a dead Siegegang’s token bit and clawed. With plenty of land out, I didn’t hesitate to float mana and sack down for a Fireblast. Lavamancer poked for a couple more before dying to a Gemplam Incinerator. With my floaty mana, I suspended a pair of Rift Bolts, and hoped that my opponent’s stabilizing board wouldn’t be enough to take the win. It was, as he was unable to swing for lethal that turn and I had the two Bolts resolving with two Lava Spikes in hand.
Congratulations to Dan and Mike, who split for First Place and Mike and Krystian who took third and fourth.
Join us next week at The Temple for our special One Year Anniversary! Celebrate YEAR ONE of the Temple with us July 29th through the 31st with 10% off EVERYTHING all weekend and exciting gaming events like FREE Standard FNM, a $10 draft following that, and a great 2HG Legacy event on Sunday! Find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TheTempleGames
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=342089
4x Ornithopter
4x Shield Sphere
4x Phyrexian Walker
4x Crimson Kobolds
4x Crookshank Kobolds
4x Kobolds of Kherson Keep
3x Wild Cantor
2x Elvish Spirit Guide
4x Glimpse of Nature
4x Land Grant
4x Lotus Petal
4x Gitaxian Probe
3x Scapegoat
2x Personal Tutor
1x Gamble
1x Summoner's Pact
1x Grapeshot
1x Brain Freeze
1x Breeding Pool
1x Goblin Bushwhacker
1x Signal Pest
1x Elvish Spirit Guide
1x Wild Cantor
1x Shifting Wall
1x Phyrexian Marauder
1x Elixir of Immortality
1x Gamble
1x Memnarch
1x Devil's Play
2x Savannah
3x Angel's Grace
This deck gained a lot of attention, a lot of laughs, and a few judge calls. It went 4-4, but should have been at least 6-2 if not for my tournament mistakes (not play errors).
Round 1: vs. U/W Stone Blade
Turn 1 on the draw, I double Glimpse and he allows both. He Force of Wills my first Kobold, but it doesn't matter. Game 2, he mulls to Daze with Mutavault as his only land. Probe tells me I'm safe, and Glimpse tells me I win.
2-0
Round 2: vs. U/W Stoneblade
Terrible keeps are terrible. Both games I fail to mull aggressively enough and lose despite Leak being his only counter in hand.
0-2
Round 3: vs. BUG Control
He Inquisitions poorly both games, failing to see how the deck functions. Letting me keep Glimpse, and not mulling to counters, means I win handily.
2-0
Round 4: vs. Dredge
Dredge. A very good matchup for me, because I am faster and neither of us interacts. Game 1, on the play (not knowing what I'm playing yet), he played Therapy, naming Petal. My hand is 2 petals, Glimpse, and 0s. I lose. Game 2 I have a much better hand, but he races with trip Bridges into turn 2 Zealot for 20.
0-2
Round 5: vs. U/W/B Control
This deck loowed pretty bad. His only interaction with me at all was Hymn. Game 1 I combo out easily. Game 2 I combo out, whiff, forget to pay for Pact. Game 3, I combo out, am just about to win, and draw one too many cards because of sticky sleeves. Game loss.
1-2
Round 6: vs. B/G Smallpox
Another matchup that should be great...unless he lands a turn 1 Hymn (!) ripping out Glimpse. Game 2 I don't mull when I should and a slow grindy death awaits me.
On the bright side, he was quite glum until I played him; my attitude and the style of my deck cheered him up immensely, and he thanked me afterwards. I felt much better as well, after the horrible fiasco of last round.
0-2
Round 7: vs. Affinity
Sitting across from a good friend, who knows my deck and knows he can't race it, I turn 1 easily. Game 2, to cheer myself up further, I side in my Elixir, Memnarch, and Devil's Play game 2. I combo out turn 1 again. When I Land Grant and reveal Memnarch, everyone around (who are in giggling fits from game 1 and know how my deck works) are stunned. They think it's a completely dead card, though I insist I will cast it.
After comboing out turn 1, I drop Elixir and my 4 Petals. I explain that I can now sac the Petals, shuffle them in with Elixir, and re-draw them with my hand full of 0-drops and Scapegoat, while controlling the deck count by several factors so I always draw the right amount. My friend, trying to mess with me, insists I play out the sequence to get my mana. The judge, fearing the time it will take (several judges watched my matches from sheer interest), has me prove the loop to him, asks me how much mana I want, and gives it to me. Because I am cheered up now and don't want to run to time, I simply Devil's Play for 1, then flash it back for 19.
My friend received a hug for cheering me up.
2-0
Round 8: vs. ????
No-show =(((
Friendly matches of note: vs. Round 6 opponent (Smallpox): 2 turn 1 wins in a row. Of course =P
Vs. Belcher: Choose play/draw, each draw 7, drop hands and see who wins. He got 2 after I whiffed both times, and I got 2 turn 1's of my own. The people around us were having difficulty breathing. As he said, "This is how you are NOT supposed to play Magic!"
All-in-all, an incredibly fun and eventful day. I beat myself up plenty, but I did my best, and my deck performed even if I didn't. The number of fans I accrued on the way was very satisfying to my ego. Judges asked how I was doing, players who said beside me before watched intently and complimented my deck, and many people learned the name Cheeri0s.
Any more of this, and Team Troll will be more than just a name.
I know where you post.